Page 84 of Before the Bond
"She went east," Stella said. "Two towns, maybe three. I tracked the scent line to the highway, but it faded after that."
It didn't matter how far she went. I didn't want her to come back.
Maureen, still beside me, tried to get me to eat. She raised some soup to my mouth.
"You need sustenance," she insisted.
Both of us knew that wasn't how it worked. But I took a few spoonfuls, if only to help Maureen feel like she could do something.
"We'll deal with Olivia later," Donovan said.
Stella bristled, but didn't retort. She set her jacket over the back of a chair and moved through the room, stopping near the fireplace.
"The Voss pack's scent is closer than it was this morning," she said. "They're not moving yet, but they're positioned. They already know."
Donovan turned from the window. "They know she left. Elias, no doubt."
Stella kicked at the grate of the fire. "They know more than that. They probably know Caleb is down. They've been waiting for exactly this."
"They're going to attack," Donovan finished for her.
Maureen clutched her chest. “Are you certain?” she asked. “But that’s against the code.”
Donovan shook his head. “It’s not going to be an ordinary attack,” he said. “I’m sure the Voss pack have thought of a way to skew the circumstance in their favor that won’t piss off the other packs.”
“It’s true,” Stella said. “They screwed us up this far, right?”
No one argued.
The fire in the grate burned down to coals. Nobody moved to add wood to it.
Jake sat stiffly in his chair. He couldn't muster any words. I watched him press his hands together in his lap and then separate them. He didn't say it, but I could tell how much Olivia leaving had hit him. He had liked her from the first day. Of all of us, he had been the most honest about it.
"Maureen," Donovan said, "how is he?"
I'm right here, was what I wanted to say. But I was too tired to really argue.
Maureen set the soup on the tray beside us. She looked at me first before she answered him — a small thing, a courtesy, before she said anything to him. I gave her a look of permission. I would have nodded, but I was too tired at the moment.
"Dwindling," she said. "He's in no shape to be doing anything. Let alone fighting. If this keeps up, he'll —" She pressed her lips together and refused to say anything more.
The words hung there. Everyone heard the end of it anyway.
Donovan turned to Stella. He didn't have to say anything for her to pick up on what he was asking.
"No," she said firmly. "I'm not going after her."
"But —"
"She made her choice, Donovan." Stella's voice stayed even, which was its own kind of severity. "We don't get to override it just because the timing is bad for the pack."
"She doesn't know, though."
This time, the voice came from Jake. He remained still in his chair, not looking at anyone. He had the particular stillness of someone who had been turning a thought over for a while and finally decided to let it out.
"If she knew," Jake continued, "she would come."
"Right," Stella said. "Because holding Olivia hostage with guilt is fair."
